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Crunch
The classic ab exercise, and the one most people do by yanking on their neck. The range really is short: only your shoulder blades come off the floor, and anything more is unnecessary.
What it works
- Rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscle, as it shortens
- Obliques, which hold the sides
How to do it
- 1Lie down with your knees bent
Feet flat on the floor, lower back against the floor. Hands on your chest or beside your head, without lacing your fingers behind it.
- 2Lift only your shoulder blades
Your upper back comes off the floor and your lower back stays down. Sitting all the way up isn't abs anymore: it's hip flexors.
- 3Breathe out as you come up
Emptying your lungs helps your abs really shorten. Hold for a second at the top, squeezing.
- 4Lower slowly
Without dropping and without fully resting at the bottom, so the tension isn't lost between reps.
The mistakes you see most
- Pulling on your neck with your hands. That's where the neck pain almost everyone blames on the exercise comes from. Rest your fingertips on your temples without pulling, or cross your arms over your chest.
- Coming all the way up to sitting. Past the first part, the hip flexors take over the work and your lower back starts pulling.
- Going at full speed. A hundred frantic reps train less than fifteen slow ones with a pause at the top.
- Thinking it gets rid of belly fat. There's no way to reduce fat in a specific area by exercising that area. The crunch strengthens your abs; what shows on the outside depends on something else.
Variations
- With weight on your chest. A plate held against your chest. The clean way to make it harder without adding reps.
- Kneeling cable crunch. The classic with a rope. It lets you really load the exercise and control the lowering.
- On a decline bench. With your head lower than your hips, the range is bigger and the exercise harder.
- Twisting crunch. Bringing your shoulder toward the opposite knee, to work the obliques.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my neck hurt?
Almost always because you're pulling your head with your hands instead of coming up with your abs. Try with your arms crossed over your chest and your chin a fist's width from your breastbone. If the pain persists, get it checked.
How many reps should I do?
Ten to twenty per set, done well and with a pause at the top. When you can do more than twenty without effort, add weight instead of reps.
Does it get rid of belly fat?
Not directly: you can't reduce fat in one area by training that area. What the crunch does is strengthen your abs.
Crunch or plank?
Both, because they train different things: the crunch by shortening your abs and the plank by holding still. A normal week has plenty of room for both.
And to keep track of what you lift
In the Reverfit Workout app every exercise comes with its animation, and you log the weight and reps set by set, with what you did last time right in front of you. Free and with no ads.
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